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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Hello! Remember me? A year has passed since I last posted. Time flies! As much as I love and miss blogging, I wouldn’t be posting today if it weren’t for a special friend, Shamae.

This is not an easy post to write, though. In fact, it’s downright painful, and I hope I can do well by Shamae. My words seem so inadequate right now.

Shamae passed away in her sleep sometime early Sunday morning, before the rest of her family woke up. Her death has devastated many of us in the diabetes online community, and today, as a tribute, we are blogging in her memory.

When I first started blogging, I wrote a post about my cousin, Mimi, who had then recently passed away. Shamae read the post and left the following comment.

That was my introduction to Shamae and that seemed to exemplify her personality. Always caring and kind, she would reach out to other D mamas. As news of her passing circulated through Facebook on Sunday, I read status update after status update, saying how Shamae was the first D mama to offer a warm welcome, support, and friendship. She touched so many people.

Most of us never had the chance to meet Shamae in person, because we lived in different states. Nonetheless, we felt connected by the shared experiences of raising a child with diabetes, and today, shocked and heartbroken, we feel an enormous void in the DOC*.

Shamae, who was only 30 years old, left behind a husband, Loren, and three little girls, Sydney, Morgan, and Hadlee. I hope they know that legions of D mamas care about them deeply, loved Shamae, and feel a tremendous loss. I hope they realize that just as Shamae reached out to all of us, we are reaching out to them with our blogging tributes today.

Loren, if there’s anything I can ever do to help you and the girls, just say the word. In the meantime, you’ll be in my thoughts and prayers.